Tu Youyou tells the story of scientists’ exploration and praises traditional Chinese medicine as a great treasure house

　　The 7th local time was the third day that Tu Youyou, China’s first Nobel Prize winner in Physiology or Medicine, arrived in Sweden. As usual, the winner of this award will give a Nobel Lecture at Karolinska Institutet before the award ceremony on the 10th. In her speech on the 7th, Tu Youyou called the discovery of artemisinin a gift from traditional Chinese medicine to the world, and emphasized that the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is a reward and encouragement to the entire team of Chinese scientists.

　　On the morning of the 7th, it was rare for the sun to shine in Stockholm, which had been raining for days. When the Global Times reporter drove into the gate of Karolinska Institutet, the first thing that caught his eye was the fluttering national flags of China, Japan, the United States and Sweden. Karolinska Institutet is the largest medical research center in Northern Europe, and the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jury is an affiliated organization of the school. This year's lecture was held in the newly completed Medical Auditorium of the School of Medicine.

　　The auditorium looks like a huge sailing ship and can accommodate more than 1,000 spectators. It is the largest auditorium in the college. The auditorium seating is divided into media area and audience area. Taking into account the craze caused by Tu Youyou, the organizers of this Nobel lecture began media registration and registration in early November. More than ten days later, the registration website showed that the media area was full. Because of Omura Satoshi, more than a dozen Japanese media came from Japan and Europe. Tu Youyou aroused the enthusiasm of a large number of Chinese media at home and abroad.

　　In addition to the media, Tu Youyou’s Nobel Prize journey has also attracted great attention from overseas Chinese in Sweden. The speech was scheduled to be held at 13:00, and hundreds of Chinese people lined up in the cold winter wind more than three hours in advance to wait for admission. Among them are international students from the medical school and teachers and staff. Some people came specially from Gothenburg, a city 500 kilometers away. Just after 12 o'clock, the seats in the auditorium were occupied. Looking around, more than half of them were Chinese faces.

　　At 13:00, the Nobel lecture begins. Accompanied by her husband Li Zhao and her daughter, Tu Youyou walked slowly to a seat in the middle of the venue and sat down. First of all, Anders Heimsten, Dean of Karolinska Institutet, welcomed the three scientists on behalf of the school. He said, "The discoveries of the three scientists have made important contributions to human welfare." Subsequently, the meeting was chaired by Jean Anderson, a judge of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. When introducing Tu Youyou, he said that malaria affects more than 200 million people worldwide. Through many experiments, Tu Youyou discovered specific plants containing artemisinin and found an effective method to extract artemisinin.

　　Among the three scientists, Tu Youyou spoke last. In a speech titled "The Discovery of Artemisinin and the Gift of Traditional Chinese Medicine to the World," she said that this was not only a personal honor for her, but also a commendation and encouragement to the entire team of Chinese scientists. She told the story of how Chinese scientists worked hard to find new anti-malarial drugs from traditional Chinese medicine under difficult circumstances 40 years ago, and specifically talked about traditional Chinese medicine, saying that it is "a great treasure house that should be explored and improved." Tu Youyou ended her speech with "Climbing the Stork Tower" by Wang Zhihuan, a poet from the Tang Dynasty, and said, "Please take it to a higher level when you have the opportunity to appreciate the charm of Chinese culture and discover the treasures contained in traditional Chinese medicine."

　　The day before her speech, Tu Youyou came to the Nobel Museum on the morning of the 6th and donated her signed monograph "Research on Artemisia annua against Malaria" (1971-1978) to the museum as a souvenir. It brings together the early anti-malarial research results of Tu Youyou's team and records the process of the discovery of artemisinin. On the same day, she also donated a Chinese-style porcelain plate to the Nobel Foundation, which was engraved with the molecular structure of artemisinin, and introduced in English the contribution of artemisinin to mankind's fight against malaria.